Australia senator Nick Xenophon detained in Malaysia

An Australian senator on a fact-finding mission to Malaysia has been refused entry because authorities view him as a "security risk".

Nick Xenophon was detained at Kuala Lumpur airport earlier this morning and is to be deported back to Australia.

He was part of an Australian delegation set to meet Malaysian officials to discuss the upcoming elections.

Xenophon has been a fierce critic of human rights in Malaysia.

"I've been here before and I've made statements about the state of Malaysian democracy previously. But on this occasion clearly someone high up in the Malaysian government doesn't want me here,” the senator told Australia’s Sunday Mail newspaper by phone.

"They have basically told me I am an enemy of the state. They are trying to get me on the next plane out of here and back home," he added.

Xenophon had flown to Malaysia as part of an Australian parliamentary delegation to determine whether the country’s impending elections would be free and fair.